Geniza Lab

Fragment of an amulet for healing, with remnants of a design composed of large calligraphic words interwoven with micrography. Curatorial note: Exposition "L'Egypte au temps des Fatimids" Institut de Monde Arabe 1998.

Kabbalistic menora surrounded by floral motifs composed of micrography. Visually arresting. Also massive: 51.5 x 37 cm and missing at least ⅓ from the top.

Marriage contract (ketubba). Location: New Cairo. Groom: Natan b. David. Bride: Sitt al-Sāda bt. ʿOvadya. One of the oldest and largest illuminated medieval ketubbot from the Geniza. Containing six layers of calligraphic borders of varying widths, including piyyutim in micrography; one thin border of gold outlined in blue; one wide border of gold calligraphy on a blue background; two arches of intersecting circles of micrography interspersed with red, blue, and gold shapes, and the monumental calligraphy of the poetic superscription in gold and blue. As a whole, this ketubbah appears to have been executed to the highest standards of medieval Levantine Jewish book art. Some portions of other decorated and illuminated ketubbot from this period have been preserved, but because of their fragmentary state they have not yet received extensive scholarly attention (see, for example, T-S 16.104, T-S 16.73, and T-S 24.17). Join by Noam Sienna, and information from Sienna, N. (2018). Reunited At Last: T-S K10.4 and Bodl. MS. Heb. c. 13/25. [Genizah Research Unit, Fragment of the Month, July 2018]. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.34050. Note that Goitein treats Bodl. MS heb. c 13/25–26 and Bodl. MS heb. c 13/27–28 as if they are pieces of the same ketubba. This is possible but not certain, as the fragments are not continuous.

Letter in the hand of Shemu’el he-Ḥaver ha-Meʿulle b. Moshe he-Ḥaver, in Tyre, to Efrayim he-Ḥaver b. Shemarya he-Ḥasid, in Fusṭāṭ, concerning two sisters, Sittān, wife of Ṣedaqa b. Ezra, and Sarah, wife of Ḥalfon ha-Levi b. Yefet, of the Tyre Jewish community, who are trying to claim their inheritance after their father, Ḥalfon, died in Fusṭāṭ, as well as other financial affairs involving members of each community. Dated to c. 1045 CE. Samuel writes his name surrounded by a motto at the foot of the page. (Information from CUDL)

Three words of a decree probably: fa-lammā intahā ilayhi. Reused for copious jottings in Arabic script and Hebrew script, including elaborate designs with micrography, including a wheel with spokes (the text in the wheel is also found in T-S H5.95 according to Maagarim: במוסף בהוסיפי תחן תמור נתח גם כי בער אנכי ולא כמפותח.... One of the jottings says "Yedutun ha-Levi" (a cantor active in Fustat 1190s–1230s), but this does not appear to be his handwriting.